Thursday, September 26

• Picture Day  

Tuesday, October 1

• First HSA Meeting of the Year  7 pm
• CSE General Meeting 7:30 pm @ Academy Building 

Monday, October 7

• ISC School Board Candidates Forum 7 pm, LMHS LGI

Thursday, October 10

• Flu Vaccines administered at WV 
• Parent/Teacher Conferences 6-8 pm 

Friday, October 11

• Family Spaghetti Dinner Night 6-7:30 pm

Thursday, October 17

• Parent/Teacher Conferences 6-8 pm

Student safety is our first priority. As part of our comprehensive emergency operations procedures, Welsh Valley will be conducting our first lock down drill next week.  Our teachers will alert students prior to our first drill so students are informed how to respond. Since a plan is only effective if it can be practiced regularly, these exercises prepare students and staff to respond instinctively to emergencies without panicking, and they allow staff to identify weaknesses in their procedures. 

The link to the single sign on video -  http://www.lmsd.org/about-lmsd/newsroom/videos/view.aspx?viewnode=b54560abda186

The HSA is looking for 1 Co-Vice President to join the Welsh Valley HSA Board.  If you are interested, please contact Nanette Taraya-Vonk at ntarayavonk@comcast.net .  We also have various school events that need volunteers.  Please go to www.SignUpGenius.Com to signup to help. 
We are looking for a Welsh Valley representative for the Committee for Special Education (CSE) which is a parent-led volunteer organization serving families of children with IEPs, GIEPs, and/or 504 Service Agreements in Lower Merion School District.

Please join us for our first general HSA meeting of the school year on Tuesday, October 1st at 7 p.m. in the Welsh Valley Library.  Our speaker will be Mr. Christopher Hall, Welsh Valley Principal.  All parents and guardians are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The LMSD Health Services team is pleased to announce that the influenza (flu) vaccine program will again be offered this fall to students in grades K-12. The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Lower Merion School District support influenza immunization programs as they offer parents/guardians a convenient opportunity to immunize their children against a disease that can cause significant illness and complications. Immunization of school-aged children is a significant factor in limiting influenza outbreaks in a community.

The PA Department of Health has provided us with injectable (inactivated) influenza vaccine and FluMist (intranasal weakened live vaccine) enabling us to offer vaccination free of charge.   Injectable vaccine is generally suitable for administration to all children however FluMist may only be administered to children with no underlying health issues such as asthma, diabetes etc. Please read the information carefully to determine which form of vaccine (injectable or mist) is appropriate for your child.

If you want your child to receive the vaccine, please read the attached influenza fact sheets  (Inactivated and Intranasal) and complete the consent form.  Consent forms should be returned to the school nurse at your child's school one week prior to the day of administration.    

For more information on Influenza please refer to The Flu: A Guide for Parents, a fact sheet from the CDC.  

Attention All Families - Welsh Valley's Back To School Spaghetti Dinner is scheduled for Friday, October 11th from 6-8pm.  Come join your friends and other Welsh Valley families for a fun and delicious Italian Dinner -  $5/person or $20/family.

As stated in the June Dragonbites, 7th and 8th grade students  who are in chorus this year will need to purchase a chorus shirt.  These shirts are $25.  The money for their shirt is due Oct. 4th.  Students are bringing home envelopes with their names on it.  You may put cash or a check made out to Welsh Valley Middle School.  Students will not need to purchase a shirt if they have a sibling, neighbor, or friend who has given them one that says either Welsh Valley Advanced Chorus OR Welsh Valley Chorus (even if they are not in that particular ensemble).
Since chorus is an elective/performanced-based class these shirts are similar to purchasing classroom materials or equipment/special sneakers for a sport.  In addition, these shirts make students look professional, appropriate, and uniform while they perform on stage.  Students will be performing in these shirts 3 or more times this year.
6th Grade students may wear a white dress shirt, black pants/black shirt with black stockings or tights, and black shoes to their concert.
Thank you for your support!
Mrs. Vaughan

With the exception of the common cold, head lice (pediculosis) affect more school-aged children than all other communicable diseases combined. While head lice most commonly affect children from the ages of three to eleven, older children returning from overnight camps or those with younger siblings can also be at risk. Head lice are human parasites and cannot live on animals or family pets. Head lice can be spread wherever there is direct (head to head) contact with an infected person or indirect contact such as the sharing of personal articles like hats, towels, coats and jackets, brushes, helmets, hair ties, pillows, etc. Head lice can't jump or fly. While they are repulsive to most people and can cause intense itching and irritation, they do not pose a health threat. Excellent information about head lice including prevention, diagnosis and treatment methods can be obtained through the following link for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (click here).

It is helpful for parents/guardians to check their child's head on a routine basis during the school year. If your child has head lice, please contact your health care provider for treatment recommendations. There are various treatment options for head lice including over the counter and prescription treatments. Please notify the school nurse if your child has been treated for head lice. The school nurse will check your child's head before returning to the classroom. This will be done confidentially and, you are invited to be present. If a child is found to have head lice while in school, the parent/guardian will be contacted so that arrangements can be made for appropriate treatment. Your child can return to school after appropriate treatment. Consistent with CDC & Pa. Department of Health recommendations on head lice management in schools, LMSD does not support a "no nit" policy. However, it is important to remove nits following treatment because the nits (eggs) can hatch and become viable lice.

Basketball season is right around the corner. The Running Rams Girls basketball clinics are open to any girl at Welsh Valley who wants to be a better player. Clinics are run by Welsh Valley coaches, with assistance from former Welsh Valley Girls basketball players and current high school basketball players. Clinics are Wednesday night from 6-7pm at Welsh Valley. Students should see Mr. Gari in D104 for more information or click here for more details . 

We are pleased to recognize our Dragon Pride Commendation award winners. The following students were recognized by our staff for demonstrating Random Acts of Kindness or Contributing to the Welsh Valley Community. We encourage all students to do the right thing for the sake of it being the right thing to do.  We want to recognize students for good deeds, sometimes with a smile or thank you, other times with a commendation.  But our overall goal is for our staff with the commendation program is to acknowledge students for doing the right thing in the most genuine sense.  The Character and Citizenship Committee and WVMS faculty would like to thank these students for helping make Welsh Valley a better place.

Congratulations to the following students for receiving a "DRAGON PRIDE" commendation for the week of September 16th:

 

8th Grade

Myka Thomas commended by Mrs. Stout

Ben Fledmans commended by Mrs. Stout

Abbey Rose commended by Mr. Davis and Mr. McCarthy

Sarah Marks commended by Mr. Murray

Rachel Bershad commended by Mr. Murray

Madelyn Finger commended by Mr. Gari

Lucy Brumberger commended by Mrs. Morris

Kirk Robinson commended by Mr. Murray

Anna Caplan commended by Mr. Murray

Abby Goldberg commended by Mr. Murray 

 

7th Grade

Kaiya Zurzolo commended by Mrs. Quin

Trevor Noone commended by Mrs. Flexner

Jon Levitt commended by Mr. Pitonyak

Jihwan Shin commended by Mrs. Lawrence

 

6th Grade

Unkovic, Luca Jean-Michel commended by Mrs. Stout

Merrin McSorley commended by Mrs. Porter

Dylan Dessner commended by Mr. Delia

Ayhan Hakimoglu commended by Mrs. Swetland

Nolan Gelinas commended by Mr. Gari

Eliza Keefe commended by Mrs. Wisser

Dylan Dessner  commended by Mr. Gari

 

Did you know that there is FINALLY a WV cross country team?? Any 7th and 8th grade students who wish to participate in Cross Country must turn in a completed PIAA form to Mrs. Petty in the Main Office. PIAA forms are available in the main office.  Practices are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays until 4:15pm. The meet schedule will be handed out Thursday, 9/26.  Please contact Mrs. Vaughan (vaughal@lmsd.org) for further questions.  

 

Please review the Transportation Policy for home and away games and practices. Please contact Megan Kiczek, athletic director, if you have further questions.  

 

DigitalSports.com Guide   

 

Athletic Director:  Megan Kiczek   KiczekM@lmsd.org  

 

Link to WV Athletics

 

Building Stronger Families Speaker Series

Click here to view flyer.

Looking for new players ages 6-16. All Skill Levels welcome! All games to be held at Bala Cynwyd Middle School - Sept. 7 thru Nov. 9, 2013.  View flyer here for registration form and other details.

We accept girls in LMSD grades 7 - 12 - novice to advanced players - who want to play with local players in a great environment!Team begins practicing in September.

Registration for the 2013-2014 season is now open.  http://lowermerionihc.com/teams/lower-merionharriton-girls/      If you have any questions please contact Lower Merion/Harriton Girls Head Coach Dave Herman,  email: Dherman16@gmail.com

Link to flyer.

 

C-MITES is once again offering Weekend Workshops at Lower Merion High School this Fall. Classes include Marine Biology, Funky Science, Rockets - Action and Reaction, Chemistry Chaos, LEGO Pneumatics, Science of Harry Potter and Stellar Geometric Stellations.

These challenging, hands-on classes are designed for academically-talented students in grades K-8. Classes meet from 9am-noon or 1-4pm on Saturday, November 9th. Parent sessions will also be offered - The ABC's of Gifted Education and Social and Emotional Experiences of Gifted Students. For more information or to register online, visit  http://www.cmu.edu/cmites/weekend_workshops.html. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and financial aid is available.

C-MITES (Carnegie Mellon Institute for Talented Elementary Students), based at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has offered challenging and fun classes for gifted students for more than 20 years.  Link to Informational Post Card

Dragonbites is published every Thursday during the school year.  New submissions should be emailed by noon on Tuesday to  WVDragobites@gmail.com  in order to be included in Thursday's email edition.  Dragonbites is intended to publish news and announcements related to Welsh Valley Middle School and the Lower Merion School District.

An Archive of past Dragonbites is available by using the link in the Resource section of this issue or go to the WV page of the LMSD website under Parents/HSA.

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